In Honor of Meghan

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Well its a new year and we are approaching the anniversary of Meghan's accident. January 17th will be 2 years since Meghan was hurt. She has been through a lot of changes and surgeries in that time but the one thing that has remained costant is the support she gets from all the people around her.

As of now, Meghan's condition is pretty stable. The artery in her right leg is still blocked, reducing the blood flow to her lower leg and foot. However, her vascular surgeon, Dr. Rosenthal, is happy with the amount of blood reaching her foot. He feels it is enough to sustain it and enough to promote healing if she gets sores or injures it. We are just supposed to make sure it stays warm enough in the cold and watch for any changes. She still has limited range of motion in her right foot and is still unable to lift it. But with the achilles and toe surgeries her foot has become flexible enough to allow her to walk much easier. We did get a couple of opinions about a tendon transfer surgery to restore her ability to lift her foot but we were told that the muscle in her calf (where they would take the tendon from) is not strong enough and we would not get the results we are looking for. Of course, that is the muscle that had 70% removed because of the compartment syndrome. Meghan continues to do toe raises to try to stregthen it in the hopes of it getting strong enough. Her doctors, surgeons and physical therapists are all very proud of her and amazed at how well she has done. They praise her for always pushing herself to the next point of recovery and not settling for where she is at. They always encourage her to keep trying new things and not to set limits. They have decided that she doesn't need to see them on a regular basis anymore. We call them now if something comes up. Although, we do continue to see the vascular surgeon every 6 months to measure the blood flow in her leg.

Meghan still goes to TAGs gymnastics to workout. She spends about 3 1/2 hours there 5 days a week conditioning to stay in shape and remain strong. The doctors and physical therapists think its great physical therapy for her! She also works on the bars while she is there. She was told that while she will most likely never do floor, beam, or vault again, she can do bars. Her goal is to compete on bars again. She is surprised at how quickly the skills in her old routine are coming back to her in just 3 months. I watched her yesterday and was so proud of how well she was doing. She was doing more than I thought she would be after this short amount of time. She is almost ready to put it all together into a routine! We are so proud of her. She will get some deductions for not being able to point her toes on her right foot, but who cares, its worth it!!

Meghan continues to excel in school. She took her ACT test and is looking at different colleges. She is active in DECA at Lakeville North and is a member of the National Honor Society. She volunteers whenever she can and teaches Sunday school every Wednesday. I have to admit that if she had not gotten hurt, she probably never would have had the opportunity or taken the time to get involved in these activities. She would still be focused completely on gymnastics. There are people she never would have met, friends she most likely never would have gotten close to, and things she would not have taken the time to do. So, while we grieve for what she has lost, we feel she is blessed for what she has found.

I think we all have settled into our "new normal". We still discover new things that we didn't think she would be able to do that she figures out a way to do. But, we also still find things that she can no longer do. Sometimes we are surprised by the difficulty of some of the most basic things that most people take for granted. But, all things considered, Meghan is doing very well! She has worked hard to get to where she is at and it shows in how well she walks and how strong she has become. We always hope for more and will never give up that hope! But if this is where she stays, then we thank God for bringing her to this point. Its a long way from where she was at in Arizona and a lot farther that we were told she could get to!

We will continue to keep everyone updated on how Meghan is doing, what she is up to and how her bars are going. She is hoping to be able to compete soon and we will let you know how that goes.